Said coats



(No Model.) V I H'. O. COATS & J. JAY.

, FENCE.

No. 357,979. Patented Feb. 15,1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY C. COATS AND JOHN JAY, OF PLEASANT HILL, OHIO; SAID COATS ASSIGNOR TO M. W. LAUVER AND M. T. ANEW-ELT, OF SAME PLACE.

FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,979, dated February 15, 1887.

Application filed August 4, 1886. Serial No. 210,027. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HENRY C. COATS and JOHN J AY, citizens of the United States, residing at Pleasant Hill, in the county of Miami and State of Ohio, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Portable Fences; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to :0 which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The special object of the invention is to improve the means by which the panels of a portable fence are held securely in place.

The invention will first be described in connection with Whatever is necessary to a full understanding thereof,and then clearlypointed out in the claim.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a side elevation of aportable fence provided with our improvement. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken transversely, showing the position of the tensionlever when the wire brace is attached to it;

and Fig. 3 is a smilar view showing the position of the lever when the wire brace has been brought to its proper tension.

In the drawings, A A rep resent two adjacent panels of a portable fence having the end uprights, a a. To the latter we pivot our lever B, at b, so that the power-arm b will be much longer than the arm I), and it is also provided with a hole, b through which passes a locking-pin into a corresponding hole, a, of upright a, or the pin may be simply carried be yond it and press against its edge.

To the fulcrum-bolt b we make fast one end of a wire, C, or other flexible material, then carry the wire around one of the projecting ends d of a horizontal sill, D, then back over the bolt 6, then down around the other projecting sill end (1, and then up to the short arm Not the tension'lever B. Here it is made fast while the lever is in a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The lever is then turned downto or very nearly to a perpendicular position, and there held by a lockingpin. This gives the requisite t-autness to the wire brace, and, making an equal angle therewith on each side, it holds the panel perfectly erect.

The sill D is fastened at each end to the drive-stakes E E, which are so driven as to hold the sill as nearly as possible in a horizontal plane.

By our invention the fence is evenly braced on each side, and any strain is' borne equally by both sides of the brace, being thus always divided, instead of being, as usual, upon one side only.

We are aware that a wire has been stretched over and fastened to the top of a panel upright, the ends being secured the the sill; also that a wire has been stretched over an end extension of one rail, one end being secured to the sill and the other to a straining-lever; but

That we claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with upright a, lever B, fulcrumed thereto, and cross-sill D, having extension ends d d beyond its stakes E E, of a wire, C, attached at one end to the straining- 5 lever B, at the other to the pivot 12, and looped around both of, the extensions d d, as shown and described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY c. COATS. JOHN JAY.

WVitnesses:

J our: W. POWELL, W. R. SLOAN. 

